Online gambling is a highly prevalent activity across Europe. While most people who gamble online use legal and regulated websites, a sizeable proportion of people who gamble online use offshore gambling websites. For instance, in 2023, it was estimated that 13% of online gambling in Europe came from offshore gambling. Offshore gambling can be broadly defined as gambling online using a website that is housed in another country and not regulated in the jurisdiction where the person who gambles resides. In Europe, the top offshore market is Malta.

A regulatory measure to prevent and reduce gambling harm that is often used in Europe is mandatory user identification. Mandatory player identification requires people to create an account and verify their identity (e.g., through an official ID, player card, or digital identification) before they can gamble at a venue or online. The creation of an account allows people to set their personal monetary limits for losses or deposits over a specified period.

In this study, the researchers tested whether gambling inducements influence sports betting behaviour in young men under 40 years of age. They also tested whether gambling inducements can lead people to make more decision making errors when gambling (i.e., choose bets with low odds).